


I Want To See You Again (Not Like This)

by a_salty_alto



Series: If You Find It's Me You're Missing [2]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fix-It, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mind Control, Multiple versions of everyone except Loki and Jan and Ultron, Multiverse Shenanigans, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Protective Avengers, There are two sets of Steve and Tony so there are two sets of relationship status, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark's Gauntlet is a Prosthetic, because I started writing this before like most of season 4 aired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-11-19 07:53:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11309010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_salty_alto/pseuds/a_salty_alto
Summary: The Avengers stumble across something they never expected to see again after traveling the multiverse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to (I Don't Wanna Be) Alone in the Silence. You don't have to have read it to read this though. Thanks to Lanidzac for giving me ideas for this, and prompting the first fic.
> 
> Un-beta'd, and all mistakes are my own.

 

Traveling through the multiverse was probably the worst feeling ever. Physically, it was disorienting, and emotionally-

“Well, that’s pleasant,” Clint muttered.

Steve pulled himself off the ground to see a ruined version of Avengers Tower. It was dark, and dirty, and completely overgrown with foliage. It was a painful reminder of the home they’d lost.

Unfortunately, sights like this were common upon arriving in a new universe. One version of Jane Foster had explained that the sporadic mode of transportation meant that they tended to be drawn to wherever their counterparts were, or, in this case, places that had a strong connection to them.

Steve didn’t know if it was worse when they arrived and, for whatever a reason, there wasn’t a Tony or-

“Guys?” A painstakingly familiar voice asked from behind them.

Steve turned around slowly in a futile attempt to keep his heart from climbing out his throat.

 _It’s not him._ Steve thought bitterly. _Just someone who looks like him_

 _Their_ Tony was gone, lost into the void. Like Dr. Foster had said, “A needle in an ocean of haystacks.”

Steve took a breath to steady himself. He didn’t want to get too excited to see him and risk that this version of Steve and Tony had had a falling out.

(Why? Why did that happen so much? Were they doomed in every universe?)

Even for all his mental preparation, Steve couldn’t stop his breath from hitching when he saw this Tony. He was wearing the armor with the faceplate up, and was a dead ringer for their Tony. Throughout their travels, the team had seen many Tony’s, but they tended to have slight differences in height, hair, voice, eye-color, etc. This one matched their Tony perfectly, if not for the tenseness in his shoulders.

Natasha, ever the cool and collected one, began to explain their situation to this Tony.

“Hi. We’re the Avengers from another universe. We got scattered across time and space and are more or less hopping our way through the multiverse trying to get home.”

“Really?” This Tony asked, taking a look at the device that Sam had cobbled together to round up the Avengers and teleport through the multiverse. It needed to recharge before they could make the next leap, one that would hopefully bring them closer to home.

“Wow! Sam did you make this? It’s really impressive!”

“Finally, another universe where I’m tech whiz!” Sam smiled. Steve was glad, Sam’s role as the gadget guy of the Avengers didn’t seem common in other universes.

The fact that Tony’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes was depressingly common on the other hand.

Steve resisted the urge to hug this Tony’s pain away. It hadn’t gone over well with the short, reactor-less Tony, and Steve didn’t want to risk it with this one.

“Well, as long as you’re all sticking around until your device recharges, why don’t you come back to the base?”

“Sure,” Steve finally choked out, “that’d be great”

* * *

 

They followed this Tony through a sprawling open area. Robots ran around doing various tasks, and it was bordered by some sort of weird purple mist. They were heading for another version of Avengers (Stark, in this universe) Tower. Thor and Hulk were chatting up this Tony while Sam and Natasha looked around.

Steve hung back next to Clint, who had gone silent.

“Something wrong, Hawkeye?” Steve asked.

“He’s almost exactly like our Tony” Clint said.

“Don’t I know it.” Steve sighed. The more he watched this Tony, the more Steve saw a match for every one of his boyfriend's mannerisms and quirks in a way no other had.

“Do you think-”

“Cap!” Tony said, excusing himself from the others to come to them.

Steve tried to stay calm as Tony walked next to him. They talked for a bit, mostly Tony asking him questions, but Steve could barely pay attention. He just kept pouring over this Tony and what Hawkeye was about to say before they were interrupted.

As Tony wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist in an exact mimicry of _his_ Tony, Steve caught Clint’s eye again. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at him in silent question. 

 _Just like their Tony_ . But it couldn’t be _their_ Tony, because that would mean-

Steve was so distracted by his thoughts and Tony practically cuddling up next to him that he almost didn’t hear the repulsor powering up until it was too late. He pushed Tony away and managed to block the attack with his shield, but Tony just stood there grinning.

“Ultron.”

Tony’s face contorted into a sneer as his eyes turned red.

“Hmm. A holographic shield? Now _how_ did I miss that?” Ultron’s mechanical voice was unnatural coming out of Tony’s mouth as he snapped the faceplate down.

All of a sudden, Steve was back at that damn satellite array, watching the man he loved become twisted by someone else. Last time, Strange had been there before the fight could really begin. Now though?

“How?” Thor demanded, voicing some of Steve's thoughts. Even though he had left Mjolnir behind in their own universe, the Prince of Asgard readied himself to fight.

The robots they had seen all over the place started to gather around them.

“I do believe the term for this ‘deja-vu,’” Ultron cackled, “last time, I was interrupted before I could really test out my new toy, but now, we shouldn't have any interruptions. Are you ready Avengers? Because, I am very excited to pick up where we left off.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ultron Event has not happened in this version of Avengers Academy.  
> I've tenatively marked this as 5 chapters but it may be shorter. I've never written something that was multi-chaptered before, so I make no promises about the update schedule. Please comment, they are literally the highlight of my day!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done! Here's Chapter 2. Still unbeta'd and any mistakes are my own. I'm not going to have a laptop for the next 1-2 weeks, so there's going to be a wait on chapter 3. Sorry! I'll try to get the next chapter written out so I can post as soon as I get back.

_Why does Tony like being right all the time?_  Clint wondered as he riddled arrows through the robots attacking them.

Of course maybe Clint was upset because, of all the things to be right about, he was right about the most insane and impossible thing that had popped into his head: that somehow,  _their_ Shellhead had managed to not only escape Strange’s prison, but landed on the exact same universe that the Avengers had.

He’d have been relieved to get their friend back if it weren’t for the homicidal AI currently forcing Tony to try and fill his boyfriend with holes.

There was probably an innuendo to be made from that, but Clint was a _teensy_ bit distracted by the robot that would have taken his face off if not for Falcon. 

Eventually, Clint found himself in one of his favorite positions: back-to-back with Natasha.

“There are way too many of these things,” he told her.

No matter how many robots they riddled with arrows, flechettes, Widow’s Bites, or  were ripped in half by Thor and Hulk, more kept coming. 

Seriously, how many of these things were crawling around this-

Campus?

“How’s Cap holding up?” Natasha asked.

 “He’s keeping up but-”

 “He’s holding back. We’re not going to beat Ultron by just taking out his mooks.” She muttered as she backflipped on top of a large one.

 “Nat, it’s Tony. _Our_ Tony, maybe. We can’t ask him to-” Clint started when something caught his eyes The robots were swarming them, but he could see the ruined tower in the distance. It was completely overgrown. No tech. Maybe...

 “Spot something, Hawkeye?”

 “Yeah, I think so. Grab Cap, I’ll get the others, then we should head to that other tower.”

* * *

 

Ultron’s attacks were quick and merciless. Steve did his best to dodge and deflect them with the holographic shield that he had received from another Tony, but Steve couldn’t bring himself to hurt Tony. Not before, and certainly not after seeing Tony hurt so many times across the multiverse. 

Steve pushed those thoughts from his mind as he focused on the fight at hand. Neither he nor Tony would make it home if he kept that train of thought.

 He did his best to block out Ultron’s taunts, but seven little words shatter any hope he had of doing that.

 “He was willing to die, you know.”

 Steve's world stopped for a split second, and Ultron took that as an opportunity try and blast Steve's head off.

 “What are you talking about?” Steve demanded, dodging the attack.

 “Stark, of course. He said that that place was falling apart. He was perfectly content to just wait it out and be erased from existence entirely.” Steve only very nearly managed to dodge the next repulsor blast aimed at his head.

 “Although, as you can see, I managed to persuade Stark to leave.” Ultron laughs as he launches a missile that very would have ripped through Steve’s stomach (though not the way his heart had just been ripped in two) if it weren’t for Natasha knocking him out of the way a blasting Ultron out of the air.

 She was saying something about regrouping, but Steve couldn’t really focus on her with Ultron’s words swirling around in his head.

* * *

 

Steve cursed at the sound of something getting into the tower.

 “Loki, I thought you said that spell of yours could keep the robots out.” He hissed as everyone got into position. The group of Academy students that had hidden out in Post-Apocalyptic Stark Tower when the machines on campus started going haywire included himself, Tony, Sam, Clint, Thor, Hulk, Natasha, Jan, and Loki.

 “Some master sorcerer.” Steve muttered as he got into position. Loki snuck him a glare, but the movement was coming closer.  They could hear voices now.

 “-looks abandoned”

“You think we can figure out what happened to this universe’s Avengers?”

“Maybe.”

 Steve wanted to bang his head against the wall. _More_ Avengers from an alternate universe? Steve had enjoyed training with the version of himself from 1872, getting the original Bucky back was surreal, but in a good way, and Tony running around the campus in his Steampunk armor yelling “choo-choo” was probably one of the most adorable things that Steve had seen the genius do (which was saying something, because Steve spent a lot of time watching Tony and had seen him do a lot of adorable things), but seriously, this was supposed to end when they’d imprisoned the Maestro. It seemed like some new threat attacked every month, one after the other, and it was getting _exhausting_. Now they weren’t even done with this multiverse mess?

 Steve gave the signal for everyone to come out, and they confronted the newcomers.

 Like the other universes, these Avengers looked like older versions of all the students hiding out in the tower, with the exception of Tony, Jan, and Loki. They looked relatively surprised to see them.

 “Hmph, are we kids in this universe?” the alternate Hulk asked, folding his arms. Their Hulk walked up to his counterpart and looked him over.

 “Other Hulk not better just because Hulk still young.” He said. He was a full inch shorter than the older Hulk, who was not impressed.

 “Are you guys here because of the Maestro?” Steve sighed

 “Who?” alternate Hawkeye asked.

 “A version of me. Tyrannical ruler trying to expand his kingdom into other dimensions. I’ve tangled with him before,” Hulk, the alternate one (was this going to be confusing?), explained.

 The alternate Natasha stopped sizing up her counterpart to address the rest of them.

 “We’re not here because of this Maestro. Our version of the Leader scattered us across space and time, and now we’re trying to find our way home.”

 “That sucks.” Tony said. “If you want, we’ve got a bunch of multiverse portals and gear for travel lying around. If we can get rid of whatever’s infected our robots, that is _not my fault, Natasha,_  then we could probably see about helping you get home.” Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony’s comment.

 “Your denial only makes it more suspicious.”

 “If I had created some sort of AI that wanted to kill all of humanity, I would have owned up to it.” he paused before adding, “...once it reached this point. And I would have told Jan and Loki way sooner.”

 “Sure.” Clint drawled.

 “You’d tell _Loki_ before the other Avengers?” alternate Sam, who actually didn’t look that much older than their Sam, asked.

 “Well, yeah. We were the first three students at the Academy together. Jan and Loki are probabaly my best friends outside of Rhodey.” Tony explained.

 “Loki is a hero?” alternate Thor gasped.

 “No, I most certainly am not.” Loki spat.

 “He says that, but he helped us fight Hydra, AIM, and all sorts of other baddies. Sure there was that whole beach thing, but deep down, Loki, I know you love us.” Jan said. She and Tony were giggling like it was some private joke, while Loki looked annoyed, but was unmistakeably amused too.

 Steve didn’t like to think too much of how close Tony was with Loki, and he wondered if his alternate self could read his mind, because he quickly changed the subject.

 “So, you guys have never fought Ultron before?”

 “Ultron?” Steve asked.

 “An AI that our Tony made-”

 “Told you, Nat!”

 “He just said you made it.”

 “An _alternate version_ of me. That doesn’t count!”

 Steve silenced them and gave his older self the signal to continue.

 “Our Tony made him to protect humanity, but Ultron determined that humanity _was_ the problem and started trying to kill it. We’ve tangled with him a few times, but he just seems to keep coming back.”

 Steve wanted to ask more, but his alternate self suddenly looked very tired. Steve sighed. The questions would have to wait for later.

 “You guys just got out of a fight with Ultron’s robots, right? Why don’t you all go rest up.” Steve saw the stubborn glint in his older self’s eye, but continued.

 “Look, we’re going to need your help to get rid of Ultron and help you get home. You can’t do anything if you’re all tuckered out. Loki’s spell has kept Ultron or his robots from entering, so we should be safe. You shouldn’t have a problem sleeping on the floor, right?” Steve was sure he was going to argue, but the alternate Nat grabbed her Steve and dragged him into a different room.

 After the other Avengers had left, Tony turned to face the other students with a grin on his face that made Steve's heart flutter.

 “This is great! With their help, we’ll be able to finally get rid of this Ultron thing! And like, they're you guys but older and actual super heroes! How cool is that?” He was bouncing with excitement.

 Steve smiled.

 “‘Course Tony, it’ll all work out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Next time, bonding!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess which chapter was a bitch to write  
> ANYWAY, sorry this took so long, and thank-you for all the positive response and nice comments. Un-betad and all mistakes are my own.

Fresh air.

God.

He hadn't even realized how much he missed it, but the fresh air was amazing. And the  _ sunlight _ . The colors around him were bright to the point of being saccharine.

There was a breeze brushing against his face.There were  _ other people.  _ And they were  _ laughing _ . Tony would have cried if he could.

After so long, alone, without anyone else to talk to or hold, with only the same twilit sky to stare at, it's the best thing he's ever experienced.

And he's doomed it.

* * *

 

Tony wasn’t sure if it was like this the first time around. 

Trying to fight Ultron’s control was like swimming up a waterfall with lead shoes. His thoughts felt weighed down and muddied. There would be times when Tony blacked out completely only to force himself back into consciousness and realize hours had passed. 

Even after leaving Strange’s dimension, trying to tell time was still torture.

The weirdest thing would have to be the disconnect from his body. As Tony struggled, he felt like he should be panting and sore, but his actual body was fine. 

Ultron had an easy time taking over in this universe. This college or whatever that this universe’s Avengers attended had a lot of robots hanging around. Tony vaguely recognized some of the coding as being similar to his own work when he was younger. Tony couldn't really tell much of what was going on otherwise though.

“Why do you hurt yourself like this?” Ultron asked. “We both knew this was what would happen."

* * *

 

One day, the Avengers showed up. 

Not just any Avengers,  _ Tony’s  _ Avengers. His  _ family. _ Ultron even took a fiendish glee in confirming that fact.

Tony was hysterical. The people Tony had so desperately wanted to see again that he left Strange’s dimension knowing full well Ultron would use him to destroy any universe they’d end up in. They were here, despite the astronomical odds, and Ultron was going to kill them.

Suddenly, Tony had a much easier time staying conscious, not that that did the others much good as Ultron lead them into a trap. Tony frantically tried to regain control (while pointedly not thinking about what looked like a projector for a holographic shield around Steve’s wrist) as Ultron prepared to fire the repulsor. Thankfully, Steve blocked in time, and the Avengers got ready to defend themselves.

Tony was so proud watching his team fight, but he knew they wouldn’t last long. 

_ Damn it, Steve! I’m not worth it.  _ Tony wanted to scream every time Steve pulled his punches, even after Ultron told him what Tony had done. 

_ I caused this whole mess.  _

A surprise shock from one of Natasha’s Bites caused Tony to black out for a second, and when he came to, the Avengers had retreated. They were safe.

“Don’t be so happy, Stark. They’ll be back.”

_ Hopefully they’ll end it quickly then. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it's short, sorry.  
> I went through a bunch of different scenarios for this chapter before deciding on checking up with Tony. I think I've got the next two chapters worked out pretty decently though, so the wait shouldn't be as long for those as this one. 
> 
> I'm a-salty-alto on Tumblr if you want to check me out. I mostly just try to be funny as I watch cartoons/play video games though.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments! I promise I read them, I'm just shy about replying.  
> As a discalimer: I know nothing about science.  
> Also: The chapter count got raised because I figured it would be better to split this chapter into two

“So, just to be clear: Your school was being invaded, and the guy who was invading had a completely wrecked version of your home, and your thought was ‘I want that’.”

“Yep.”

“And you just… took the whole building and moved it onto the campus”

“Yep”

“And he just let you have it. Didn’t set any traps or anything.”

“No, I _bought_ it from him.”

Natasha turned to her alternate self for some help, but the younger spy just shrugged in response.

“Sometimes I come up here dressed as a cowboy and lasso robots.”

Natasha shook her head as Steve walked in, looking like he’d gotten maybe an hour of sleep tops. She went over to meet him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, how’ve you been?”

“Not well, I just keep thinking of him.” Steve muttered.

“Who are you talking about?” The pair turned to see the concerned looks of the younger Steve “What aren’t you telling us?”

The entire room was silent and everyone’s eyes were turned to Steve.

“The last time we fought Ultron he managed to take control of out Tony through the arc reactor.”

Steve was honestly impressed that he managed to stay composed as he told them about everything. The Civil War, Ultron destroying Avengers Tower, coming so close to getting Tony home only for the Leader to steal their chance away.

Everyone was silent

Younger Clint piped up “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Huh?”

"So you'll help us?" Thor asked

“Of course we will help rescue your shield brother!” his alternate self replied.

“Honestly if we went around blaming people for things they did under mind control, I’d have much more Enchantress-based blackmail on all the boys at school” Loki rolled his eyes.

Steve sighed.

“We couldn’t do much last time.”

Jan laughed

“ _Last time_ you were caught off guard, were in the middle of nowhere and had just crashed your jet, had been fighting killer robots around the world for hours, and had no immediate access to your usual facilities. Now, you have time to rest up and put a plan together, plus another super scientist!”

“Tony has extra arc reactors hidden all around campus, that makes the solution as simple as take out the arc reactor and replace it.” young Nat explained.

“Why do you- you know what, never mind. Yeah, you just have to figure out how to take it out, because, that armor probably has some really sweet defense mechanisms to take off the head of anyone who tries to just straight up pull it out.” Tony added

“Do you have to look so happy about that?” Alternate Sam asked.

“I appreciate the craftsmanship”

“Localized EMP?” Sam offered.

“We don’t really have any supplies for one that would take out the reactor.” Tony sighed

“What if we short circuited it?” Clint suggested.

Both Tony and Jan’s eyes widened

“Jan, you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Totally!”

“Professor Pym’s lab has this huge antenna! If we can calibrate it properly, it should be able to send an electric blast to the suit that would short out the arc reactor” Jan explained.

“Is that safe?” Steve asked.

“Sure. I get electrocuted by that thing all the time!” Tony beamed.

“Wait, what?”

“This is basically what you’ve been missing. This place is weird.” Natasha shrugged.

“Great, then we have a plan. We make our way to Professor Pym’s lab, and everyone keeps Ultron and his robots busy while Wasp calibrates the antenna.” Young Steve said.

“Our Falcon can help.” Steve added.

“Wouldn’t I be better suited helping out with the antenna?” Tony asked.

“Actually, I was thinking you should stay behind.” Young Steve explained.

Oh, that wasn’t going to be good.

“What.”

“If Ultron can control you through the arc reactor, then you’re at risk.”

“Then I’ll avoid him.”

 _“Tony!_ ”

“ _Steve!_ ”

“It’s still too much of a risk!”

“Why don’t you have any faith in me?”

Young Steve started to say something else but Tony cut him off angrily

“I’m going, Steve. You can’t stop me!” With that, Tony stomped off.

“Well. Uh, Steve, you want to handle this?” Clint asked.

With a sigh, Steve grabbed his arm and took his younger self to the other room for a talk.

* * *

 

Steve took a deep breath. His older self gave him a small smile and pushed him towards Tony.

“Hey, Tony.”

“What do you want Steve? I’m doing some calculations.” the genius snapped. Tony turned to leave before Steve grabbed his arm.

“So, I was talking to my older self, and, well um. It’s, I just wanted to tell you, I mean, about the staying back thing, um” Breathe Rogers, breathe.

“It’s not because I think you-”

“‘It’s not you, it’s me’? Really Steve?” Tony rolled his eyes “I’ve never heard that one before”

“But it is me! I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you!”

“Th-the other Steve, he and his Tony were married, and I-I don’t know how I’d handle being in his position, without you. Having to fight you-”

“We fight all the time” Tony interrupted softly,

“But not like this. And not when it really matters.” Steve took both of Tony’s hands. “Tony, I love you-”

And then _Tony_ kissed him.

Tony kissed _him_

_kissed_

Steve’s brain stopped working for a second.

He hadn’t even realized they’d had an audience.

Jan was snapping dozens of pictures, while Loki smiled, which was usually never good.

“We get to be the bridesmaids at your wedding right?” Jan asked

“Jan, Loki, get out of here!” Tony said angrily

Loki laughed mischievously.

“Fine, I need to collect money from everyone.”

“Do you want me or Rhodey to walk you down the aisle?”

“GO!”

After they left, Tony sighed and turned back to Steve.

“Sorry about them,”

“At least they like me?”

“Anyway. Steve, I love you too. That’s why I can’t bear to just stand behind while you go out to fight.”

“Please, Tony” Steve’s breath hitched. Tony had to see reason.

After a long pause, Tony sighed.

“Okay Steve. I’ll hang back. You just have to promise to stay safe.”

“Yes! Oh, Tony. Thank you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the Avengers end up in the Avengers Academy universe in the actual show, I at the very least want more of the Avengers being really confused by the logic of the Academy


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? I know, I can't believe it either. I'm on a roll!  
> Also, this is a PSA: I kinda suck at fight scenes.

Steve was giddy as everyone got prepped to go out. Tony loved him back! They were dating. Were they dating? They hadn’t done any date things yet. 

Before they left, Steve turned to his older self.

“Thanks, for the advice.”

“No problem. I’m glad you and Tony worked things out.”

“You ready to do this?” 

“Yeah.” Older Steve smiled. “Now, that I know we can do something, I feel better. Like I have direction.”

“Alright then, let’s do this.”

Once they left, almost immediately, robots plagued the two teams of Avengers as they carved their way to Pym’s lab. Steve marveled at how seamlessly their alternate selves fought together. They didn’t even have to look at each other to perform complex combos.

Not that the Avengers from the Academy weren’t good, they just weren’t as refined. Personally, Steve felt a little off balance without Iron Man there, but as long as Tony was safe, that was fine.

Finally, they arrived at the lab.

Ultron was nowhere to be seen, though his foot soldiers were abundant. One got a lucky strike on Steve from behind and he blacked out. When he came to, the robot was standing there with it’s laser pointed straight at Steve’s face.

Steve was so screwed. He couldn’t reach his shield, and there was no one nearby to help. He closed his eyes in preparation for the blast. 

That never came.

When Steve opened his eyes, Tony stood over the mangled husk of the robot.

“That’s what you get for trying to mess with my boyfriend’s beautiful face!”

“Tony?! What are you doing here?” 

“Damn it little Steve! You couldn’t have stayed out of trouble for another ten minutes?” Older Clint yelled.

“Ha! Told you he wouldn’t wait that long before following us. When you’re done here, you better pay up.” Loki laughed from somewhere else.

Steve ignored them and turned to Tony, who  ~~he still couldn’t believe was actually his boyfriend and had just saved his life which was kinda hot actually and called his face beautiful~~ he was mad at.

“You said you’d stay behind.”

“Steve, sweetie, if this relationship is going to work, you’ve got to accept that I’m not a maiden who needs defending. I don’t want to be.” Tony explained. 

Steve, who most certainly was  _ not blushing _ because Tony had called him “sweetie,” sighed. It wasn’t like he could do much about it right now anyway.

“Fine. To be honest, I missed having you here.”

“Aw, Steve.”

“Tony”

“Are you two going to flirt like this all the time now?” Clint yelled.

“Oh, yes.” his alternate self said.

“It’s going to be insufferable.” Older Thor chimed in.

“Hey, we weren’t  _ that _ bad!” Alternate Steve insisted.

“Yes, yes you were, Steve.” His Widow sighed.

“ _ Were? _ More like are.” Older Hulk revised

“We could all hear you having interdimensional phone sex, Steve.” Alternate Sam added. 

Tony laughed, before spotting the other Iron Man armor in the distance.

“Hey! Everyone! Looks like the guest of honor’s here”

“Wasp, where are we on the antenna?” Steve asked.

“Could still use some work.”

“Right. Iron Man, Wasp, handle the antenna. All the other Academy Avengers handle the foot soldiers.”

“My Avengers, we’re going to keep Ultron busy.” His alternate self ordered.

The two Steve’s shared a look.

“Avengers Assemble!”

* * *

Ultron’s focus was immediately set on the Avengers. Steve was glad for the armor’s toughness, because they did not have a lot of room to hold back, though Ultron taunted them the whole while. Steve did a better job tuning him out this time. All that mattered was helping Tony right now.

“Hey! We’re good to go!” Young Tony called from behind them.

They got out of the way just as a large lightning blast came. 

Unfortunately, so did Ultron.

“Was that really your best attempt?” the AI scoffed.

“Wasp, Iron Man, can you power up the antenna again?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, but it’ll take a few minutes.”

“Enough of this foolishness.” 

“Not so fast!” Hulk roared as Ultron made a break for the antenna. He grabbing a thruster and threw Ultron into some sort of billboard in the Academy’s quad.

“Keep him away from the antenna!” Steve yelled.

“Your pitiful attempts to stop me are quickly growing tiresome. You cannot hope to defeat me Avengers. No matter how many of you there are.”

“What did you say? I was too busy remembering all the times we’ve done just that.” Clint snarked. He let loose an explosive arrow that sent Ultron into a pool table at some sort of club off the quad. 

The fight continued like that, and eventually, after destroying many more buildings, Steve managed to get Ultron pinned. 

“Steve. Finish it, please.” 

That was-

“Tony?” Steve gasped.

“Another shock coming through!” 

Steve faltered for a second too long, and Ultron squrimed away as Steve took the full blast.

“Steve!” and yeah, that was definintely Tony, shouted. Thor and Widow helped Steve up as the others fought off Ultron and the antenna was charged a third time.

“Did you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” Natahsa asked.

“Tony. He’s in there. He’s fighting.”

Natsha gave him a long look. 

“Steve, are you sure?”

“Do, I lie?” 

Natasha furrowed her brow and fought for a second.

“Then let’s see what we can do with that.”

By the time the antenna was charged again, both sets of Avengers were starting to lose steam. Steve couldn't afford to pay too much attention to the younger team, but from the quick glances he got, they were tiring out. It wouldn't be too long before someone got seriously hurt.

After some more struggling in the ruined quad, Steve found himself with Ultron's repulsor trained on him.

“Tony! I know you’re in there. Please help us!” he cried

“C’mon Shellhead!” Clint yelled.

“You’re stronger than him Tony!” Nat affirmed

“Fight back!” Sam shouted

“Friend Stark, we know you can hear us!” Thor boomed

“You’re not just going to let Ultron control you without a fight, are you!” Hulk bellowed.

“Tony, please.” Steve begged, lowering his shield.

The repulsor didn’t fire.

Ultron, no  _ Tony _ , stayed still, just long enough for a blast from the antenna to hit the arc reactor point blank. 

Tony crumpled to the ground, and Steve’s breath hitched as he ran over to him.

“Did it work?” Young Tony asked. 

“The arc reactor is definitely offline.”

“Good. You probably want to take him to the medical building over there. I’ll get you a spare arc reactor.”

“I’ll take this one. We have a couple of lava-filled Hell portals we can leave it in.” Young Widow added.

Steve was barely aware of them as he watched Tony breathe.

He was back.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for your enjoyment, my outline for this chapter:  
> Powpopwowpow fighting  
> Tony saves Steve at the last minute, no one is surprised  
> Flirting  
> No one is surprised  
> Friendship Powers GOOOOOOO!  
> And he’s dead  
> Except not really but he should probably go to the hospital
> 
> The next chapter is called "hugging and crying"


	6. Chapter 6

_Ow. Why does my everything hurt?_

_Oh, right, I let myself get struck by lightning_

“Hey guys.” Tony groaned as he opened his eyes to his team’s concerned faces.

“Tony, you’re up!” Steve said from his bedside, holding Tony’s hand.

“How do you feel?” Natasha asked from his other side.

“No worse than every other time I’ve been electrocuted.”

“So do you remember anything that happened?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Everything. Guys, I am so so sorry”

“Sorry? What are you sorry for?” Steve asked.

Tony laughed weakly

“Steve, I let Ultron out. I figured out how to get out of Strange’s dimension and I left even though I knew he’d take over again.” Tony looked at the team expecting them to be angry, but he only saw concerned stares. Why weren’t they furious? “When he came back online, I had just been alone for so long, and I was scared. I was starting to forget things, people. You guys. I couldn’t remember what your voices sounded like and-” Tony hadn't realized he’d started sobbing until Steve started to wipe his tears away and pulled him into a hug.

“You should be mad. I was stupid and selfish, why aren’t you mad?” Tony hiccuped into Steve’s chest.

“Well, I guess I’m a little selfish too.” Steve said, “because when Ultron mentioned you would have been erased because the dimension was unstable, I was relieved. I don’t know what I would have done if that happened. I love you, Tony.”

“Steve.” And suddenly they were hugging again, and the rest of the Avengers joined in.

“We don’t know what we’d do without you, you idiot.” Clint chuckled.

“Verily. ‘Tis unfortunate we had to be reunited like this, but we were reunited nonetheless.” Thor added.

They stayed like that for a long while before Tony managed to worm his way out from under his friends. They still liked that for a while, whole at long last.

* * *

 

As it turned out, the staff was actually very forgiving to people who had attacked their school, and didn’t take too long for the Avengers to be all set to head home. It was almost a little too quick; Tony was sure he’d heard Headmaster Fury muttering about how he did not need two Starks running around his campus. He’d been glaring at them all night when they’d gone to hang out with their counterparts at the club on campus, which was completely unfair because Tony had just been explaining to his younger self why he should put roller skates in his armor.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Tiny Tony asked. “Not about the skates”

“Sure kid, shoot.”

“It’s Steve. He and I just got together and, well. Do you ever feel like. Um--”

“Like he’s the most amazing person ever, and he could be doing so much better than you, and that you’re going to drag him down with you?”

“Yeah.”

“All the time.”

“How do you handle it?”

“I don’t think I’d have been able to without him.” Tony laughed. “It feels like anytime  I’m starting to feel down on myself, he’s there to tell me why I’m great and with his usual stubbornness.”

“Oh,” was the only reply.

“Listen kid, try not to worry about it. I know not all universes are the same and you two have obviously gone through some different things than my Steve and I have but,” Tony turned to glance at the Steve’s on the dance floor, “I’ve got a feeling you two will work out just fine.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Tony ruffled his counterparts hair a bit. “Hey, you wanna go program an LMD to look like Fury and go run around campus doing the chicken dance?

“We can use the one he already has”

“Perfect.”

* * *

 

The next day, the Avengers gathered around the portal, all set with an assorted cheese basket from Tiny Tony’s fridge.

 

“So,” Tony turned to his team, “what do you think are the odds that something screws up and we end up in Hell?”

 

“Considering our luck? Pretty high” Natasha said.

 

Steve took Tony’s hand.

“Hey, as long as we’re all together. Let’s go Shellhead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! I'm done. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, but I'm really happy if you enjoyed it.  
> I'm on [Tumblr,](https://a-salty-alto.tumblr.com/post/165951082295/avengers-assemble-month-okay-since-people-seemed) if you want to say hi!


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